A Simple Common Lawyer - by David Dyzenhaus & Murray Hunt & Grant Huscroft (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book of essays, dedicated to Michael Taggart by a group of his academic and judicial friends, marks his enormous contribution to the common law.

Book Synopsis

Michael Taggart was the Alexander Turner Professor of Law in the University of Auckland, New Zealand until his retirement in 2008. He has worked extensively on public law, in particular administrative law, privatisation and the public/private law divide as well as on legal history. He has visited and taught at the Universities of Melbourne, New South Wales, Toronto, Cambridge, Paris II, Victoria at Wellington, Saskatchewan, Western Ontario, Queen's University at Kingston and Osgoode Hall Law School. This book of essays, dedicated to him by a group of his friends including academic colleagues, practitioners and judges, marks his enormous contribution to the common law.

Review Quotes

"...the scholarly contributions of the cartographers in this lovingly assembled book are a testament to Michael Taggart's incomparable mapping skills in the landscape of administrative law. A Simple Common Lawyer is an impressive and richly deserved tribute to one of the titans of Commonwealth public law: it functions as a fantastic primer, rather than substitute, for Taggart's voracious writings and exemplifies the enduring virtues of the festschrift genre.The obvious diversity yet underlying unity of the subjectmatter contained within the volume is an apt reflection of a scholar who has resolutely demonstrated that a culture of justification should operate in academia aswell as in public administration." --Matthew Windsor, The Modern Law Review, 72(4)

"To the extent that it is possible for one volume to reflect the depth and variety of Taggart's scholarship, this volume succeeds admirably and does so in large part because the contributions draw upon many of the themes or arguments that vexed Taggart. This book reflects the work of the person it honours in another way. It is about big ideas and examines difficult questions that do not have easy answers. The result is a strong work that covers complex issues and does so in a thoughtful and often provocative way. The sharp comparative focus of the book will lift readers out of the confines of their own jurisdiction to a wider range of ideas about administrative law." --Matthew Groves, Australian Journal of Administrative Law, Volume 17

"the volumes provide a wide audience for many erudite and deserving papers. They provide an oppurtunity for public lawyers to dip in to other jurisdictions and to identify commonalities and the helpful foreign reference." --Tom Hickman, Blackstone Chambers, Judicial Review

"A Simple Common Lawyer will appeal not just to those in the legal community but to anyone wishing to understand how public law works or critically consider how it should work.

A fitting tribute to Professor Taggart, A Simple Common Lawyer offers an insightful, engaging, and diverse collection of essays any publi law enthusiast will thoroughly enjoy wading through." --Deidre Bourke, The Law and Politics Book Review

"To a large extent, it is the intellectual gratitude expressed by its architects that make the book a celebration, a fest, of public law scholarship, a rich source of inspiration to reflect, research, and write on the challenges that lay ahead. It is an uncommon book for a simple, albeit uncommon, common lawyer, one we can easily imagine surfing somewhere on Superman's cape, in a thunder of laughter." --Geneviève Cartier, University of Toronto Law Journal, Volume 64

About the Author

David Dyzenhaus is Professor of Law and Philosophy at the University of Toronto.
Murray Hunt is Legal Adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the UK Parliament.
Grant Huscroft is Professor of Law at the University of Western Ontario.